


ain't nobody else

by zhujungjungting (runswithchopsticks)



Category: NU'EST, Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Ice Skating, M/M, Minhyun is so whipped, Some Humor, like pudding, mentioned Dongho/Minki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-01-25 22:13:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12542364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/runswithchopsticks/pseuds/zhujungjungting
Summary: Minhyun argues that he's just always prepared, while Minki argues that he's absolutely and utterly whipped.(Where Minhyun wears more than one jacket because a special someone always says he's cold.)





	ain't nobody else

**Author's Note:**

> Hi my lovely prompter!  
> Ah, this prompt was so cute. Thanks for sending it in, haha! I hope you'll like the fic. :)

Everybody except Minhyun himself knows that he is absolutely, utterly, 100%, _whipped_.

“You’re so fucking whipped, Minhyun,” Minki, Minhyun’s housemate, comments as Minhyun is reading a newspaper and Minki is sitting in the recliner next to him, a chip sticking out of his mouth.

“‘Whipped’?” Minhyun replies, contorting his face into an expression of undaunted confusion, as if it were some term that the youngsters of the age recently coined and Minhyun is way too damn old to understand what it means.

“For Jonghyun, you idiot,” Minki hums, rolling his eyes. He darts out his tongue and pulls the chip into his mouth with one swift move.

Minhyun sighs, placing his hand on his face and rubbing his eyes. “How many times do I have to tell you,” he begins, exasperated, “there’s _nothing_ going on between us -- he’s just been my friend ever since I was a kid, and so therefore, I care about him a lot.”

“Whatever,” Minki murmurs. He rolls his eyes once more, and Minhyun wishes his eyes would roll into the back of his head and be stuck there.

“You’re sure one to talk,” Minhyun begins, scowling, “when you have all of Dongho’s band’s posters and albums even though their music is _absolutely fucking terrible_ \--”

“It’s not that bad!” Minki interrupts, throwing his hands up in protest.

“Don’t lie!” Minhyun exclaims, “I know you agree with me that emo punk rock screamo heavy metal--whatever the fuck kids are calling that genre nowadays--is an abomination of a genre and should not be classified as ‘music’.”

Minki remains silent, digging his teeth into his bottom lip as he stares at Minhyun, his eyes wide. For a moment, his lips begin to tremble, and he looks like he’s about to cry, but he just makes a frustrated noise, throws a handful of chips at Minhyun, and yells, “I’m going to tell Dongho what you said about his music!”

Minhyun snorts. “Then I’ll go and tell him that you take down all the posters and hide all the albums whenever somebody who’s not him or Jonghyun comes to our apartment,” he retorts.

Minki bites his lip again, silently glaring at Minhyun, and if Minhyun weren’t already numbed to the sensation of Minki’s beady little eyes throwing daggers at him, he’d be a little bit terrified right now.

“That doesn’t change the fact you are absolute whipped for Jonghyun,” Minki states, smirking.

This time, it’s Minhyun’s turn to throw something at his housemate. He laughs when the TV remote hits Minki on his forehead.

* * *

One afternoon, Minhyun is driving to the nearby primary school to pick up Jonghyun, who is working there as a teaching assistant, and his little brother Jongdae. Minki sits in the back, his legs crossed as he flips through a packet of papers, Minhyun’s parka draped over his thighs because it’s a little bit chilly that day and the heater in the car is broken. He’s wearing a suit because Minhyun has to drop him off at a nearby interior design firm on their way back as he’s got an interview for an internship.  
Jonghyun and Jongdae are already waiting at the front of the school when Minhyun pulls up. Jongdae immediately bounds over and opens the door for himself, clamoring inside and squishing up to Minki, who panickedly gathers all the papers he’d spread out on the seats because he cannot have dusty footprints and wrinkles all over his resume.

“Hi Minhyun-hyung, hi Minki-hyung!” Jongdae cries, reaching out to Minki with his grubby little kid hands, and Minki takes them in his own.

“Hi, Jongdae!” Minki replies, putting on his best nice hyung smile, and Minhyun almost snorts.

Jonghyun slides in the next moment. “Hey,” he says, laughing softly as he sees how excited his little brother is, “thanks for picking us up, Minhyun.”

“No problem.” Minhyun nods, and when Jonghyun slams the door closed, Minhyun shifts the car back into drive and turns the wheel.

On the way back, Jongdae talks about his little kid things like how good his day at school was, how he got to receive the most M&Ms because he did the most multiplication problems in one minute, and how they served tacos for lunch. Minki acts like he doesn’t know what tacos are, and Minhyun has to cough to prevent himself from full-on snorting.

“How was your day?” Minhyun asks Jonghyun, as Jongdae is now entertaining Minki with a story about how they played 7 Up Heads Up in class and he managed to correctly guess who tapped his thumb every single time.

“Pretty alright,” Jonghyun replies, with an amiable smile. “Today I didn’t get paint, tears, snot, or mud smeared on my hands, so I’m happy.”

“Awesome,” Minhyun laughs, “sounds successful.” He sees Jonghyun’s smiling face in the rearview mirror, and he automatically smiles back.

“Hey,” Jonghyun begins, a moment after, “it’s kind of cold in here. Can you turn up the heater?”

“Uh,” Minhyun murmurs, glancing down at the temperature control buttons, “we still need to get the heating and cooling system fixed. The heater won’t go higher than the level it is at right now.”

“Damn,” Jonghyun replies, and he rubs his arms with his palms, “that’s unfortunate.”

 _Hmm_ , Minhyun thinks, and then he realizes that he’d brought a parka with him, but he’s not wearing it. “Hey, Minki,” he says.

“What?” Minki replies.

“Give Jonghyun my parka,” Minhyun states, “he’s cold.”

“ _What_?” Minki exclaims, “But I’m cold too!” If Minhyun could see him right now, he bets that Minki would be scowling.

“He doesn’t need to--” Jonghyun begins, but Minhyun interrupts him.

“Just give him my parka!”

“But I’m fucking cold too, Minhyun, what the fuck--”

Jonghyun instinctively covers Jongdae’s ears. “Please, guys, don’t swear in front of my brother--”

“Oh shut up, Minki, just give Jonghyun the damn parka already!”

Minki makes a bunch of garbled noises, but Minhyun hears the shift of polyester and waterproof synthetic cloth the moment after, and he smiles.

“Oh… thanks…” Jonghyun murmurs as he slips on the parka.

“You’re welcome!” Minhyun happily replies, just as Minki mutters, “Yeah, you’re welcome.”

Minki rolls his eyes and sighs. “He was thanking me, you idiot!” he states, crossing his arms, and Jonghyun slowly retracts himself, pressing against the faux leather of the car’s interior as he watches Minhyun and Minki silently send each other death threats.

* * *

Late into the night one day, Minhyun is working the late shift at the convenience store. There’s literally no one in the store but him, so he sits at the counter, his chin resting on top of his laced-together fingers as he blankly stares at nothing in particular. It’s pouring outside, and the rhythmic beating of the rain against the roof threatens to send him to sleep.

Just as he’s about to nod off, he hears the sliding doors at the entrance of the store part with a _swish_ , and he instantly jerks his head up, blinking rapidly. When he recognizes the customer, a wide grin appears on his lips. “Hey!” he greets enthusiastically.

“Hi,” Jonghyun replies, waving. Minhyun notices he’s sopping wet, his hair blacker than ever and pressed against his forehead, all his articles of clothing several shades darker than they should be. Jonghyun’s only piece of outerwear is a denim jacket, and Minhyun sighs.

“What’re you here for?” Minhyun asks.

“Jongdae wanted some of those icing cupcakes, so I decided to stop by,” Jonghyun replies. Minhyun walks over and joins him in looking at the dessert snacks, idly chatting about nothing in particular -- the weather, cupcake flavors, and oh hey, did Minki tell you about the new mini fridge we got, so now we can drink beer in bed? “Want to try one day?” Minhyun asks.

“Drink beer in bed with you?” Jonghyun replies, raising an eyebrow quizzically.

Now, Minhyun totally did not mean to ask that question with any ulterior motive, he swears he just wants to drink beer in bed with Jonghyun, maybe watch some low-budget rom com on Netflix together, share a bowl of popcorn--

“Yes,” Minhyun says, slowly.

Jonghyun laughs. “Oh hell yeah,” he affirms, “that sounds great. When should I stop by?”

They make plans for that following Saturday -- Jonghyun will just dump Jongdae at Aron’s, and hopefully Aron can cook the kid pasta or something or whatever dish he’s obsessed with making that week.

When Minhyun finishes bagging the cupcakes for Jonghyun, he asks, “Are you okay? Are you cold? You’re soaked.”

Jonghyun shrugs. “I’m fine,” he says, and laughs, “yeah, I am kind of wet and a little bit chilly, but I’ll be okay, the walk to my apartment isn’t long--”

Minhyun interrupts him by turning around and grabbing his jacket sitting on the chair in the corner behind him. He returns and holds it out to Jonghyun. “Take it.”

Jonghyun shakes his head. “I can’t,” he begins, “then what’re you going to wear when you walk home?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got another jacket in the employee room in the back,” Minhyun assures, and he shakes his outstretched arm. “Take it.”

Jonghyun just stares contemplatively at the bundle of black nylon and polyester, and the expression on Minhyun’s face gets more and more concerned and he’s practically shoving the damn thing in Jonghyun’s face. He remembers the last time Jonghyun walked out in the rain without a hood or any sort of protection against the bite of the weather. He’d promptly gotten pneumonia, and Minhyun had been so worried sick that he insisted on taking care of Jonghyun until he’d fully recovered. And then when Jonghyun would be napping, Minhyun would be in the kitchen, letting out all his worries by cooking pot after pot of chicken noodle soup -- he managed to accumulate enough that by the time Jonghyun _did_ recover, there was so much leftover soup that Minhyun and Minki ended up having chicken noodle soup for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a full week.

“Alright,” Jonghyun relents, smiling, “thank you, Minhyun.” He slips on Minhyun’s jacket, tucking the hood over his head.

Minhyun smiles back. “No problem,” he replies joyfully, and he offers Jonghyun a giddy wave as his friend takes his leave.

Well, Minhyun had been lying straight through his teeth -- he doesn’t have another coat back in the employee room, because there _isn’t_ even an employee room, and so later that night he just ends up walking back home and getting soaked to his bones, but he doesn’t mind because at least Jonghyun won’t get pneumonia again.

* * *

It’s the Saturday before midterms week, and Jonghyun and Minhyun are walking to the university library together for some late evening studying. There’s a guy running up and down the road streaking -- he’s probably drunk, Minhyun thinks, and he pities that guy’s poor soul and hopes he doesn’t get caught by campus police.

“Have you ever streaked before?” Minhyun asks.

Jonghyun’s automatic response is to frown. He laughs. “Who do you take me for?” he replies.

Minhyun sighs. “Right,” he murmurs, “you’re a goody-two-shoes.”

Jonghyun’s next automatic response is to jab Minhyun in the side, but Minhyun dodges him easily. “It’s true!” Minhyun teases, running a few steps ahead, and Jonghyun scowls in mock offense.

“That reminds me,” Minhyun begins, when Jonghyun finally catches up to him, “remember that one time Aron got drunk during movie night? And then he got all sad, and you know when he gets sad and drunk--”

“He tries to strip,” Jonghyun finishes, and Minhyun nods. “And then he started crying while trying to take off his sweatpants--”

“But we couldn’t let him do that,” Minhyun interrupts, and Jonghyun shakes his head. “Nope.”

“So what we did was that we tied his wrists to one of my dining chairs with a chain of lanyards that Minki and I collected for free from conferences over the years,” Minhyun adds.

“Wow, we’re absolutely fucking terrible friends,” Jonghyun states, frowning, as he thinks over Minhyun’s words and remembers.

Minhyun snorts. “Blame Dongho,” he says, “it was his idea.”

“It was--” Jonghyun begins, and then his face promptly falls. “Oh my god--”

“What?” Minhyun asks, glancing over.

“How does Minki survive--” Jonghyun begins, and his eyes widen.

Minhyun quickly catches onto what Jonghyun is implying--oh _shit_ , Minhyun realizes, he does _not_ need to think about whatever shenanigans Minki and Dongho like to get up to in their free time together--and he breaks into loud laughter. “What the hell?” he exclaims, holding his stomach as he laughs. He watches Jonghyun’s face pass over a reel of rather kooky-looking expressions that Minhyun can’t quite pinpoint, but he most definitely sees a little bit of terror and mild disgust. “S-Stop,” Minhyun stutters through his laughter.

“I can’t!” Jonghyun exclaims. He throws his hands up in frustration.

“We’re terrible friends indeed,” Minhyun notes, and Jonghyun begins to laugh as well. They stumble as they walk along the sidewalk, holding their stomachs, and Minhyun almost falls over, but Jonghyun grips onto his jacket sleeve tightly and keeps him up. Minhyun can see their puffs of breath flying in the chilly air in front of them, all wispy and smoke-like, dissipating within a few seconds of their warmth fading out. His nose is a bit frozen, but it warms up slightly with his laughter.

When they’ve stopped laughing, they’re still holding onto each other, and Minhyun has to clear his throat in order to also clear away the phlegm that’d risen. Jonghyun gripping onto his jacket sleeve, and he slowly lets go a moment after. Their steps resume their original pace, and a comfortable silence falls around them. Minhyun watches their puffs of breath float away in the air, illuminated by the street lamps they pass overhead.

“Hey,” Jonghyun begins, after a period of silence.

“Hmm?” Minhyun replies.

“I’m kinda cold,” Jonghyun says.

“Oh--” Minhyun begins, and he’s already unzipping his jacket when he adds, “--you can wear my jacket if you want. I’m not that cold.”

Jonghyun takes it gratefully. “Thank you,” he says, smiling contentedly at Minhyun as he shrugs the article of clothing on, and Minhyun nods. Jonghyun is smaller than Minhyun both vertically and horizontally, and he looks slightly swamped wearing Minhyun’s jacket, as if he’d been playing dress-up in the closet of a person who’s noticeably larger than him. Minhyun wants to coo at Jonghyun and pat him lovingly, but he resists that urge with an awkward cough.

They make it to the library within the next few minutes, and they find tables next to each other in the back corner of the area. Jonghyun still snuggles into Minhyun’s jacket the entire time even though the library is not at all cold. Minhyun doesn’t mind, he even forgets that Jonghyun’s got his jacket until he arrives home alone and Minki asks him how he hasn’t frozen to death already (As he holds out Minhyun's red fuzzy bathrobe for his housemate to slip his arms into, Minki also inwardly wonders what would happen if Minhyun _did_ freeze to death.)

* * *

The next time he’s out with Jonghyun, it’s even chillier than before, and there’s bitter winds on top of it. Minhyun hums as he changes his clothes, checking the time on his phone to make sure he’s got enough time to get to the bus stop and meet Jonghyun there -- Minki’s _finally_ taken the car to the auto shop after they’d both painstakingly scraped together bits of their earnings over several weeks in order to afford the repair for the heating system.

On his way out, Minhyun grabs his jacket off of the couch and slips it on. But he sees his other jacket that he’d thrown on the faux suede sometime earlier that week, and he pauses. _Hmm_ , he thinks, before grabbing that jacket as well and putting it on over his first jacket. He might look a bit puffier than usual, but he shrugs and proceeds to walk out the apartment door.

“So,” he begins, when he sees Jonghyun waiting for him at the bus stop, “why call me out to go grocery shopping at seven in the evening on a Thursday?”

“Jongdae ran out of Beijing yogurt and he wants more,” is the first thing Jonghyun says, and Minhyun almost rolls his eyes, because Jonghyun is definitely wrapped around his little brother’s finger, but then again, who isn’t?

Jonghyun smiles when he sees the exasperated look on Minhyun’s face. “And,” he adds, “I also _do_ need to buy more produce. You know that I don’t know how to pick out fruit.”

Minhyun laughs softly. “I don’t know how you’re functioning as an adult,” he comments, “and taking care of your little brother on top of that as well.”

Jonghyun shrugs. “Well, then again, almost every time I go out to buy groceries you’re with me,” he notes. “Why are you living with Minki, again? Come live with me, so I don’t have to drag you out of your home to help me pick out fruit every weekend and occasional weekday.”

“Yeah, okay, sure, just please pay my rental contract termination fee,” Minhyun snorts, but then he mentally adds, _but I’d still love to live with you, you know._

Jonghyun just laughs, because he definitely can’t do that on a teaching assistant’s salary, let alone do that while simultaneously paying for his tuition.

Later, the two wander around together through the grocery store, Jonghyun pushing a shopping cart while pointing out whatever fruit or vegetable he needs. Minhyun will promptly walk over, lifting an orange or whatever it is on the display and bringing it up to his nose, making a scene out of the way he delicately wafts the scent of the fruit or vegetable and squishing it like he’s squishing something he’d probably be arrested for squishing before adorning his thinking face and then either putting the produce back or bringing it over to the cart.

He and Jonghyun eventually make their way to the frozen meats section, because Jonghyun needs to pick up some ground beef for wontons he’s going to make Jongdae later in the following week. Minhyun chooses a package of meat. When he returns, he swivels his head around as he looks for a plastic bag dispenser, but Jonghyun interrupts his search.

“It’s pretty cold in here,” Jonghyun notes, and Minhyun glances over. Sure enough, Jonghyun has his arms folded in front of his chest, his shoulders slightly raised as he tries to warm himself.

“Oh,” Minhyun murmurs, and he sets down the package of meat in the cart. He immediately unzips his jacket as he says, “Here, you can wear my jacket.”

“Thanks,” Jonghyun replies, a contented smile on his face as Minhyun shrugs off his jacket and offers it to him. But Jonghyun’s expression quickly changes into one of bewilderment when he sees that Minhyun’s got a second jacket underneath. “Why’re you wearing two jackets?” he asks, but he nonetheless still takes the one in Minhyun’s outstretched hand and proceeds to put it on.

“Uh,” Minhyun begins, and he stuffs his hands in his pockets. “Oh, you know,” he begins, as he feels something in one of his pockets that he’d forgotten was there, “I’m just always prepared for situations, you know,” he says. The next moment, he whips out a plastic bag that’d been inside in his jacket pocket, and with a sudden flourish of his hands he grabs the bag and shakes it once in the air so that it billows out. “You see?” he asks, with a wide smile, “Did you notice that all the plastic bag dispensers around here are out?”

Jonghyun looks around. Sure enough, Minhyun’s right. “Wow,” he murmurs, “you are always prepared, aren’t you?”

Minhyun smiles blindingly, like he’s a magician that’s just demonstrated the best trick of the night, and nods his head up and down vigorously. “Yup! I am!” he affirms.

Jonghyun laughs at his antics, and Minhyun still thinks he looks cute wearing a jacket larger than him.

* * *

Minki and Aron propose that they all visit the haunted house that’s set up in their area every year, and Minhyun is very belatedly dragged along by the other four of his friends even though they all are aware (to at least some degree) that he _absolutely cannot_ do haunted houses. Even Jonghyun, who knows the furthest extent of Minhyun’s ~~problems~~ uneasiness, laughs in his face and tells him it’ll be fun.

Minhyun feels so fucking betrayed, but if _Jonghyun_ of all people is going along with it, then he should too, right?

The place where the haunted house is set up is in a small suburb fifteen-something kilometers outside the city limits. It’s already almost deathly dark and damp and misty when they arrive, and Minhyun can practically _feel_ the moisture seeping through his bones.

Well, he’s okay for the first fifteen minutes because he’s wearing two jackets (Minki gave him a questionable side-eye, but Minhyun just narrowed his eyes and Minki turned away). But then, of course, Jonghyun asks for his jacket and Minhyun eagerly obliged -- _no,_  not because he likes seeing Jonghyun wearing his jackets, no, definitely not, it’s just because he’s a nice and gracious friend. Thankfully, Dongho and Aron don’t comment on his weird little habit of wearing two jackets, although Minhyun swears he hears Aron snort when he hands his jacket over to Jonghyun.

They’ve only _just_ entered the haunted house and Minhyun is already So Not Fucking Prepared™ because this building is made entirely out of wood, (probably fake) torn electrical cabling, and cheese cloth, and not to mention that it’s dark as hell. He dear god hopes that Jonghyun can’t feel the sweat pooling in his palm and the vice grip he’s got on his friend’s hand, but Minhyun knows that that hope is pretty much futile at this point.

They all sit down together on a bench as per the instruction of the guide lady that admitted them. The bench is attached to tracks of some sort, and Minhyun inwardly panics when he sees that there’re no seat belts. Jonghyun probably feels Minhyun’s fingernails digging into his hand, so he gives his friend’s hand a reassuring squeeze, and Minhyun takes a deep breath.

The door to the haunted house closes, engulfing the whole area in darkness, and there’s chatter from the other people in their group. Minhyun swears he hears Minki _giggling_ , and he hisses under his breath. The next moment, the bench begins to move, and he hears the rattle of the wheels against the track, and he has to cough to suppress a pitiful sound.

The whole time they’re in the haunted house, Minhyun remains in a state of Definitely Not Fucking Prepared™. That old haggard-looking witch lady that opens the clock face and walks out only to hover menacingly within Minhyun’s peripheral vision for a whole minute or two? _No_ . The pair of eyeballs on the painting that fall off when he walks by? _Oh hell fucking no_. The crazy scientist with a gas mask and a chainsaw standing in the corner? Okay, Minhyun is okay, he’s taking deep breaths, but then the damn thing _cackles_ and starts whirring its chainsaw and Minhyun yelps and jumps a near meter in the air while Minki is still _giggling_ his stupid face off -- none of the rest of his friends are fazed.

Minhyun’s not only shivering slightly from the cold, but he’s also shivering because he’s downright frightened. He hunches his back over, because Jonghyun is trying his best to comfort him while walking, and how do you cuddle up against your friend when one of you guys is the size of a flagpole?

Jonghyun notices his uneasiness. “Hey, do you want your jacket back?” he asks, and Minhyun vigorously shakes his head.

“I’ll be okay,” Minhyun replies, his voice slightly trembling. He takes deep breaths, and he almost chokes because he’s taken so many deep breaths at that point that his lungs and trachea are basically lined with sawdust. Jonghyun wraps his arms tighter around Minhyun’s shoulders (or, as much of Minhyun’s shoulders he can reach), and Minhyun hangs his head.

He makes it out of the haunted house eventually, but not without several bouts of trying to puff out his chest and brave his fears like the Man™ he is and then promptly failing and whimpering into Jonghyun’s shoulder, all while Minki is laughing at his misfortune, Dongho is pitying his poor soul, and Aron is thinking he’s just _weak_.

Minhyun’s so tired out from braving the perils of the haunted house that he falls asleep as Minki is driving them back. He almost wants to punch the person that wakes him from his comfortable slumber--he _really_ needs it, because _whew_ was that adventure terribly taxing on his poor spirit--until he sees Jonghyun’s face hovering above his, and then he just smiles and puts his palms on Jonghyun’s cheeks until Aron comments how disgusting he is and then Minhyun promptly kicks the back of Aron’s seat.

* * *

On a Sunday, Minhyun meets Jonghyun at the local park. He carries two cartons of banana milk in his hands, and when he sits down on the bench next to Jonghyun, he hands his friend a carton. They pull the straws off the packages, tearing off the wrappers and inserting the straws, and begin to sip.

In the distance, Minhyun can see Jongdae running around the playground chasing one of his friends -- apparently he’s “it” in their game of tag.

The banana milk is cold because Minhyun just pulled it out of the refrigerator of a convenience store on his way there, and as Jonghyun sips, he shivers. A gust of wind blows by their faces. “It’s quite chilly today, isn’t it?” he murmurs. He shivers again, and Minhyun is already unzipping his (first) jacket.

“Thanks,” Jonghyun says, laughing softly, and when he’s put on Minhyun’s jacket, he leans over onto Minhyun’s side, and they sit there on the park bench, propped up against each other, sipping banana milk quietly while watching Jonghyun’s little brother and some other kids make their rounds around the playground.

While they watch, idle chatter makes its way between them. “How’s your job been going?” Jonghyun asks, and Minhyun nearly snorts, because how can his job be any different? Oh, well, he knows that since Halloween just passed, they’re already beginning to stock candy canes -- “Do you want any Jolly Rancher-flavored candy canes?” Minhyun asks.

Jonghyun makes this weird expression where he wiggles his eyebrows in a movement that kind of looks like Dongho’s attempt at doing the worm. “That’s disgusting,” he comments, and Minhyun coughs because Jolly Rancher-flavored candy canes are the _best_ candy canes in the world.

“How _dare_ \--” Minhyun begins, but Jonghyun just looks at him and laughs.

“Just kidding,” he says, putting on a silly smile. “Yes, I would love some Jolly Rancher-flavored candy canes,” he adds. “Let’s eat them and drink beer in bed together too, how about that?”

Minhyun imagines how beer and candy canes would taste -- the thought isn’t bad, he thinks, and he nods. Jonghyun puts his head back on Minhyun’s shoulder and chews on the straw from the banana milk, as his carton’s now empty, and Minhyun makes comments about he would like to go on the monkey bars again for nostalgia’s sake, until Jonghyun can’t keep his laughter contained anymore because Minhyun is basically the length of the monkey bars and is definitely taller than their height.

Unbeknownst to them, across the playground, obscured by the slides and the plastic tunnels, is Minki, sitting on a swing. He idly waves his legs back and forth, a lollipop stuck in the side of his mouth. Aron stands next to him, leaning against one of the swing set’s poles.

“They’re so disgusting,” Minki comments, the lollipop stick protruding out of the corner of his lips waving up and down as he speaks. “They’re like an old married couple watching their grandchildren play and trying to remember when they were that young.”

Aron throws his head back and laughs. “Says you, the fully-grown man who’s sitting on a _swing_ , sucking on a lollipop, and creepily spying on his two friends from afar. What gives?”  
Minki looks up at Aron and tries to jab him with a fist, but Aron is too far away, and Minki is too lazy to stand up. He just settles for rolling his eyes. “You’re here with me too, you know,” he points out.

Aron snorts, shifting his position. “Touché,” he mutters. The two continue silently watching Jonghyun and Minhyun until some random little kid comes up to Minki and points out that his time limit on the swing is up (of course, Minki initially waves him off, but then the little brat brings his gang of friends and Minki is _definitely not_ risking being mauled by a group of eight year-olds).

* * *

“You’re so fucking whipped,” Minki says. He sits on the recliner next to Minhyun, his legs covered with a blanket and a bag of chips in his lap.

“What?” Minhyun begins. He opens his mouth, about to protest, but Minki interrupts him.

“I _know_ why you wear two jackets all the time,” Minki states, his expression flat. “And it’s not because you’re cold,” he adds, when Minhyun opens his mouth again to protest, only to shut it immediately at his housemate’s comment.

Minhyun makes some strained noise that’s halfway between a growl and a garble. He can’t even say anything because it’s all too damn true; so what he does is throw his book at Minki (of course, he bookmarks his page before doing so), who surprisingly catches it and promptly drops it behind him and over the side of the recliner with a flat expression on his face. Minhyun inwardly screams, because 1. Minki got his greasy chip hands on his precious limited-edition autographed hardcover, and 2. Minki had better not lean back on the recliner, because then the recliner springs and legs will shift position and squeak and oh god, the _book_ \--

Minki just nonchalantly chews on a handful of chips, staring at Minhyun with his eyebrows raised, silently challenging him.

On the inside, he’s laughing, because wow does Jonghyun take advantage of Minhyun a lot. It’s so stupid, Minki thinks, because both Minhyun and Jonghyun don’t realize it, and it’s not like they need to realize it either. Those two fit so perfectly together that it’s just absolutely repugnant -- _what a_ disgusting _pair of kids,_ Minki thinks.

* * *

On a Saturday, all the boys go to the ice rink together. Now, Jonghyun has absolutely no clue how to skate, and Minhyun can just barely skate stably, so they’re the two that wobble around on the mats trying to figure out how the hell you buckle the rental skates while Minki, Aron, and Dongho (who somehow has his own skates?) are already gathered around the rink’s gates, waiting for their two straggling friends.

Once Jonghyun and Minhyun have figured out how to walk without falling over--Minhyun has to hold onto Jonghyun’s elbow to help stable him--Dongho is the first one out on the ice, with Minki and Aron trailing closely behind.

Minhyun watches Dongho push off the ice powerfully, bending his knees and pulling his torso slightly forward. Several strong strokes later, and he’s already halfway across the rink.

“...Did Dongho ever play hockey?” Minhyun asks, frowning.

“I don’t think so,” Aron replies. “And those’re figure skates he’s wearing, not hockey skates.”

Minhyun shrugs. He holds onto Jonghyun’s hands, helping him on the ice. “Let’s just skate a few rounds and get you used to it first,” he says, and Jonghyun shakily nods, staring down at his feet.

Minhyun slips a finger under his chin. “Don’t look down, bend your knees,” he instructs.

Minki and Aron stick with them, helping Jonghyun wobble along as well. They sometimes glance over at the middle of the rink, and there’s Dongho doing his thing. Last time Minhyun turned his head, he saw Dongho doing a bunch of sliding stops, grinding up snow as his blades scraped the ice. There’s already a little pile of white forming in the middle of the rink.

Later, Minhyun compliments Jonghyun on how fast he’s learning, because now Jonghyun can (mostly) skate around without holding onto Minhyun for dear life. Minki starts to skate backwards, arms outstretched towards Jonghyun, the latter who grabs onto his friend’s palms and lets him pull him along.

But as the boys round a corner of the rink, Dongho whizzes by in a flash of black, and all four of them pause and stare at their friend.

There he is, flying towards the center of the ice. He’s got his arms out, angled to the front and side of his body. He pushes onto his outer forward blade edge, and with one giant leap, lands on his other foot and begins to rotate in a clean [flying camel spin](http://78.media.tumblr.com/047173a65858741c234c040f2a12541c/tumblr_ojgc11hYEX1vteqrso1_r1_400.gif).

“What the fuck,” Aron comments, as they watch Dongho spin and spin and spin. The other three stare, stupefied, and Minhyun swallows.

Minki shakes his head and begins to pull Jonghyun along as well. The boys slowly move out of their stupor, but they’re soon lured in again when they hear the sharp scrape of a blade against ice. When they glance over, they see Dongho skating backwards, arms extended, until he sweeps one of his blades behind the other and promptly pulls his torso in and throws himself in the air, crossing his ankles.

“What the fuck,” Aron comments, again, and Jonghyun squints.

“Was that two?” Jonghyun asks.

“Yeah,” Aron murmurs, frowning, “you just saw Dongho do a double [salchow](http://78.media.tumblr.com/5f79867f7bee75ba19cb23afc68591e4/tumblr_of51297ZvG1vteqrso1_400.gif).”

“How do you know that?” Minhyun asks, and now he’s frowning too.

Aron just shrugs. “My older sister likes to watch figure skating,” he replies, nonchalantly. “Move along, move along,” he ushers, waving his hands, when the other boys stare at him, as if they don’t believe his statement.

Aron’s integrity is questioned again a minute later, when he points out Dongho spinning in front of them.

“What the absolute fuck,” Minki comments, his brows furrowing. “Holy hell, is that even humanly possible?”

“He’s doing it right in front of your eyes, so of course it is,” Aron states, matter-of-factly. The second after, a shitty grin spreads on his lips. “Hey, you’re quite lucky, you know,” he comments, nudging Minki in the bicep, and both Minhyun and Jonghyun watch with bated breath, because this conversation could end in very many ways.

“Why?” Minki asks, suspiciously.

“You’re pretty lucky to have a boyfriend who’s that flexible,” Aron says, raising his eyebrows, that same shitty grin still plastered on his face.

“Oh my _god_ ,” Minki whispers, and there’s the sudden scrabbling of blades against ice as he chases after Aron with a growl in his throat, his arms outstretched.

Minhyun and Jonghyun just stare silently at Dongho in the middle of the rink, who’s spinning as gracefully as one of those ballerina figurines on the little pedestal, his foot pulled high above his head in a perfect [Biellmann](https://78.media.tumblr.com/535ecc8af0b79f154102b67fdd6c5b0d/tumblr_n01bcgIc1v1svpydzo6_250.gif) spin. The position stretches his body so that his shiny black leather jacket rides up, and one can see the studded black belt he wears. The tatters on the ripped knees of his jeans fly around him as he spins, and Minhyun almost wants to laugh at how ironic the whole scene looks.

“I feel inadequate now,” Jonghyun comments, and Minhyun reluctantly agrees.

But Minhyun just places a palm on the center of Jonghyun’s back, pushing him forward -- “I don’t want to look at Dongho anymore,” he says.

The two continue to skate around until Jonghyun pauses at one of the gates on the side of the rink. He’d accidentally slipped, and his knees and elbows are now dark and wet, as he’d fallen in one of the piles of snow Dongho created. “Now that I’m a little damp,” he says, with a laugh, “I’m pretty cold.”

And there Minhyun goes, unzipping his first jacket and handing it over, because it’s now a habit for him (Jonghyun has basically conditioned Minhyun like a little puppy, Minki thinks, but he hasn’t told anyone that yet).

Jonghyun slips the jacket on contentedly. “I’m going to try to skate solo,” he says, and Minhyun cheers him on because yay! Minhyun is doing great as a teacher, and it makes him happy to see that he’s done well teaching Jonghyun.

But as Jonghyun waves his arms around, trying to push off of the wall, one of the loose threads on the sleeve of his jacket catches around the button on Minhyun’s coat, and as he begins to move forward, Minhyun is suddenly dragged along as well.

Jonghyun doesn’t realize anything until he’s already a few meters ahead and Minhyun is stumbling along, and then when he glances over his shoulder at the sound of blades sliding does he lose his balance, teetering back.

“O-Oh--” he stutters, but there’s Minhyun holding onto him, simultaneously trying not to slip himself; but you see, the thing is, Jonghyun has little balance on ice, and Minhyun is big, so they both end up scrabbling around like a pair of mice trying to get through the door to The Cheesecake Factory. They end up twirling several steps forward before gravity wins and Minhyun swears he hears his tailbone crack when he falls onto the ice, ass first.

Jonghyun is half on top of him, and when he tries to sit up, he places a palm on Minhyun’s stomach and pushes down, and Minhyun makes a noise halfway between a yelp and a burp.

“Crap, I’m sorry!” Jonghyun exclaims, but Minhyun just throws his head back and laughs, because it’s entirely classic of Jonghyun to apologize first and then laugh at him later (unlike Minki).

Because Minhyun is laughing, Jonghyun laughs too, and soon both of them are reduced to just a pile of giggling humans on the ice. As Minhyun’s laughter calms, he sees in the distance Dongho still doing his tricks and Minki and Aron idly chattering next to the rink gate with paper cups in their hands (when did they get those?)

And then Minhyun’s gaze returns to Jonghyun’s smiling face. “Hey,” he begins, softly and Jonghyun hums.

“What?”

“No one’s looking,” Minhyun says.

“What does that h--” Jonghyun begins, but then Minhyun just quiets his words when he leans in and all he sees is Jonghyun in front of him.

Sure, Minhyun’s tailbone may fucking hurt a lot at the moment and Jonghyun might’ve done some temporary damage to his digestive tract, but all he can feel at the moment is the cool air surrounding them and Jonghyun’s lips on his own.

Yeah, maybe they’ve fallen on the ice, and maybe there might be more careless accidents in the future, but Minhyun is so gonna wear two jackets for the rest of his life.

 


End file.
